Monufiya electricity tower attacked as war on power continues

Two bombs exploded underneath an electricity tower in the Delta city of Monufiya on Friday, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. 

The tower collapsed, MENA said, and security forces arrived at the site to safely detonate two other explosive devices. 

The explosion caused power cuts in surrounding villages and initial financial losses have been estimated at LE1 million, the report said. 

Several reports have appeared recently of attempts to bomb power stations and towers. In Giza, an electricity tower in the Al-Saff area was bombed two weeks ago, and one was bombed in nearby Haram in March. 

In May, a larger scale bombing shook the major Kuraymat power station and ensuing reports said that engineers employed at the station were suspected of complicity in the attack. The explosions caused major cuts in southern areas of Cairo, including Maadi.

Security forces have repeatedly accused the Muslim Brotherhood and their sympathizers of carrying out these attacks in retaliation for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi from office last year.  

Akram Ismail, a mechanical engineer in the power production sector, describes the attacks as very tactical.

“It’s an extremely harmful operation that can be easily implemented, as securing these towers is a difficult and costly process,” he told Mada Masr.

For example, the destruction of the Kuraymat distribution tower, crucial because of its proximity to a production facility, means the loss of about 2000 megawatts, according to Ismail, and overall national production stands at about 21,000 megawatts.

General Magdy al-Basiouny, a security officer, told the privately-owned Sada al-Balad news portal that the attacks on power stations and towers are cowardly acts undertaken by fearful perpetrators. He noted that most of the attacks take place in remotely situated stations.

Basiouny said that the perpetrators have resorted to bombing power stations to exploit the ongoing energy crisis that Egypt is experiencing. The government has resorted to imposing increasing numbers of power cuts in order to save electricity. 

Basiouny also suggested that the Brotherhood are resorting to such acts of sabotage because they have failed to mobilize people to protest in the streets. 

He added that securing power stations in remote areas, particularly those near agricultural land, require the collaboration of residents, for police alone cannot do the job. In desert areas that have power stations, the police need helicoptors for surveillance, as well as four-wheel drives. 

The power crisis in Egypt is tied to declining supplies of fuel used for electricity production, particularly natural gas, as well as the dysfunctionality of power stations across the country.